


Sentinels 2

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: AU, Gen, Sentinel Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 17:54:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13816413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: A newly online sentinel finds help





	Sentinels 2

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2018 Sentinel Bingo prompt 'future fic'
> 
> This is a sequel to Sentinels 1, originally posted to Sentinel Thursday in July 2017, now also posted to AO3

Sentinels 2

by Bluewolf

Dghem sat at his desk in 'Scad's Security Department, desperately waiting for the painkiller he had taken a few minutes previously to take effect. His headaches were definitely getting worse; even he was beginning to think that perhaps he should go to the medical centre for a check-up. He just had this fixed idea - partly instilled into him by his father when he was a child - that going to see a medic was tantamount to hypochondria.

Most infectious diseases had been permanently eradicated two to three centuries previously; there probably wouldn't have been a medical profession any longer - no matter how much one had been needed in the past - but for the fact that there were some things for which no permanent cure had been found. There was no way to prevent accidental injury. There was no cure for stress - and its accompanying side effects.

Sometimes Dghem wondered if his headaches were caused by stress - the spirits knew that there were times when Security personnel couldn't avoid stress!

His immediate boss, Sh'mon, left his office and crossed to him. "Another headache?"

"Yes."

"All right. Go. See a medic, get a diagnosis. Now!"

It was a measure of Dghem's desperation to get a diagnosis that made him nod, without protest, and get up to go.

***

At the medical centre he was seen surprisingly quickly by a medic who, after running some checks and asking a few questions, came back to him, saying, "We know what's wrong, MaDghem. You're in the wrong job. Didn't a medic direct you to the job where you'd feel most satisfied when you were a child?"

"My father believed that seeing a medic was a sign of hypochondria. I don't think I ever saw one until my routine check when I was employed by the Security Department."

"Ah. Well, MaDghem, our tests today show that you're a sentinel. You should be working as a chef - "

"What? No way!"

"As a chef, you'll feel satisfied - "

"When there's an Ice Age in Hell!" Dghem snapped. "Chef? A totally useless, worthless job!"

"MaDghem, it's the perfect job for a sentinel - "

"Damn sure it's not! Have you asked any of those sentinel chefs how they feel about their work? I'll wager most of them think they're wasting their time! I don't even like cooking for myself, let along anyone else, and ten gets you five hundred that most of them feel the same!"

"Nobody's ever complained - "

"Yet, because 'everyone' knows sentinels are born to be chefs, whether they like it or not!" He slammed out of the medic's office.

***

There was a young man standing a few steps down the corridor, and as Dghem reached him the man said, almost tentatively, "MaDghem?"

"Well?"

"My name is Balare. I think I might be able to help you - "

"How?"

"I'm an archaeologist. A few weeks ago, we unearthed a box at a dig. There was a book in it about sentinels, written over six hundred years ago. What I learned from it might be of use to you now."

Dghem looked at him for a moment. "All right, I'll listen."

"Right. Let's get away from here. My office at Raineer might be the best place."

Back at his car, Dghem set the controls for Raineer, and as the vehicle started he noted another one on the same route.

***

In the small office, Balare said, "I told you I recently found this old book. The box it was in had preserved it extremely well, so it was easy to read; nobody actually knows I read it, though my Boss has probably guessed I did. Any paper that old normally goes for conservation before anyone tries to read it... but like I said, this was in good condition, so I took a chance.

"Anyway, the writer claimed that sentinels were protectors, with an instinct to care for the welfare of their 'tribe'. But he also said that to work efficiently a sentinel needed a partner, a companion, who watched out for the sentinel. The way some of it was worded... I wondered if the writer was companion to a sentinel.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? You are with the Security Department, probably drawn there by that instinct - you've only just discovered you're a sentinel, after all.

"Is there anyone you work with - "

"No," Dghem said before Belare could go further. "None that I'm particularly friendly with. They're good enough company at work, but I don't socialize with any of them." He sighed, then added, "When I was growing up, my father drummed into me that 'friends' were just out to use you. That the only person you could - should - depend on was yourself."

"Sounds like someone let him down pretty badly," Balare commented. He thought for a moment. "All right - I've got a pretty good memory, and I remember a lot of what was in that book. We're not friends, so you wouldn't be trusting a friend; just taking a chance on someone who would like to help you. Will you come with me to see Ellai - my boss? We can explain the situation to him, and I'm sure he's flexible enough to go with it... and maybe even let me copy that old book."

Dghem hesitated, then nodded. "If it works, it might even let us rescue a lot of sentinels from the slavery of the kitchen."

***

Ellai agreed; then they went to the Security Department, and explained things to Sh'mon, and he agreed to let Balare work with Dghem.

To everyone's surprise - it worked. Dghem and Balare became friends and a very successful pairing... and the medics started thinking twice about automatically directing sentinels into work as chefs.

Once they heard about Dghem and Balare, over 90% of sentinel chefs, many taking a friend with them, seized the opportunity to move to work they found more satisfying.

And the book Balare had found, 'Sentinels by Blair Sandburg' was reprinted, and became a vital source of information for sentinels and their companions.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Balare is an analogue of Blair. Ellai is an analogue of Eli Stoddard. Dghem is an analogue of Jim. Sh'mon is an analogue of Simon


End file.
